Why is Global Warming Unstoppable and Unavoidable?

Is Global Warming Unstoppable and Unavoidable?  That's what it seems like.  There will be times of global cooling, but climate change is here to stay.

As our coasts warm, more might look like this

Is global warming inevitable?  Global warming will affect our lives and the lives of future generations.  It is expected to cause extreme weather patterns, rising sea levels, and even decreased agricultural productivity.  All of these things would hurt our economy, health, and overall quality of life.

Many fear global temperatures will keep rising if we don't reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  And that extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and other environmental disasters will result.

What's the deal with climate change?  We can see local shifts in warm and cool air masses, moisture distribution, and wind patterns.  There's not just trends, temporary or permanent, in these averages, but also changes in their statistical variations (and their seasonal timings).  

We're used to this:  You might have an earlier spring start to your growing season and an earlier first frost each year, but no net change in your annual average temperature or the overall length of your growing season.

Consequently, you would see a change without a net trend of global warming.  On the other hand, if I visited you every year, only in spring, I might think global warming is unstoppable.  

Okay?  I drew my own incorrect conclusion based on one part of the overall trend.  This happens all the time.  Other examples of improper sampling leading to false conclusions can be found in other fields like politics.

The big climate drivers

A lot of things that alter our climate, like solar energy, volcanic emissions, ocean circulation, and atmospheric composition, which gets the most attention and are attributed to human activity.  This has led many to call Global warming unstoppable and unavoidable.  

Earth sketch

Natural processes and human activities both contribute to climate change.  Here's a breakdown of the most cited contributing factors:

-Carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases trap heat and warm the planet, causing climate change.  Fossil fuels are a big source of these emissions.

-Changes in land use: Deforestation, agriculture, and urbanization can change the amount of carbon stored in soils and vegetation, as well as the amount of heat absorbed by the Earth's surface.   

-Climate variability is caused by natural processes like volcanic eruptions, solar radiation changes, and ocean circulation patterns.

-As a result of volcanic eruptions or burning fossil fuels, aerosols can reflect sunlight and cool the Earth's surface.

-In the stratosphere, depletion of the ozone layer is caused by chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which affect atmospheric circulation and regional climate patterns.

-Earth's orbit: Small variations in Earth's orbit around the sun can affect the amount of sunlight the planet receives, which can lead to long-term climate changes.

The idea was first proposed by Milutin Milankovitch in the early 20th century.  The orbit around the sun varies from nearly circular to more elongated. The tilt of the Earth's axis varies between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees.  Earth's axis also moves relative to the stars over time.  It takes thousands of years for each of these three cycles to complete.  Global climate patterns can be affected by these variations in the Earth's orbit and axial tilt.  

Global warming is a complex and multifaceted issue, influenced by a lot of factors.  Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, are the main cause of recent global warming, according to scientists.

The majority of scientists agree that the average temperature of our atmosphere has been going up.  They all seem to agree that human activity is the biggest contributor to global warming.  Deforestation and carbon emissions, as well as carbon equivalents, top their lists.  

Most of the temperature increase happened between 1978 and 2001, with observations keeping it steady since then.  Alarmist groups would simply declare global warming unstoppable and unavoidable.

Is Global Warming Unstoppable and Unavoidable?

Fred Singer led an expedition of scientists who had a different view. Singer brought other important facts to the public's attention with Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years and his contributions to The Great Global Warming Swindle.

Unstoppable climate change

This book says natural forces drive a one-and-a-half-millennium cycle that complements, and maybe overpowers, any trends attributable to recent anthropogenic emissions. Hans Oeschger, Claude Lorius, and Willi Dansgaard discovered this pattern in Antarctic and Greenland ice cores.

Fred Singer argues that the Earth's climate is cyclical and that the current warming trend isn't caused by humans, like burning fossil fuels.  Many studies that provide evidence for human-induced climate change have challenged Singer's views, and his arguments have been widely criticized.

According to Singer, global warming can create more good than harm.  We can't predict warming trends with any certainty, even with what we've already observed.  Global warming is also unstoppable and unavoidable, but not worth worrying about.

Climategate, the unintentional release of climate change correspondence from a UK university data storage system, only complicates things.  As a result, Singer delivered scathing, if confusing, criticisms of other climate change scientists' methodologies and conclusions.  Furthermore, it shows that detailed conclusions are impossible at this point because of the complexities surrounding the issue.

Again, is global warming unstoppable and unavoidable?  Without a doubt.  Do we need to change our policies?  Depending on who you talk to.  And there are a lot of reasons to do it.

In general, people and society need to be aware of climate change risks and uncertainties and make informed decisions about how to deal with them.  Educating yourself about the potential impacts of climate change, and considering the costs and benefits of different actions to mitigate or adapt to them, is important.  

This phrase caveat emptor is often used when talking about climate change policies that can have significant costs and trade-offs and require careful consideration of available evidence.  A range of stakeholders should be involved in the decision-making process around climate change, which should balance scientific, economic, and ethical factors.

I'd Love to Change the World ... Wouldn't You?  Here.  I sing a famous song about that.

...and this channel homepage has more of your favourite songs on Youtube.

Do you believe that global warming is an unstoppable and unavoidable phenomenon?

The process that led to Global Warming becoming unstoppable and unavoidable.  Here are some fresh ideas regarding global climate change.

Do you have concerns about air pollution in your area??

Perhaps modelling air pollution will provide the answers to your question.

That is what I do on a full-time basis.  Find out if it is necessary for your project.

Have your Say...

on the StuffintheAir         facebook page

Other topics listed in these guides:

The Stuff in the Air Site Map

And, 

See the newsletter chronicle. 

Thank you to my research and writing assistants, ChatGPT and WordTune, as well as Wombo and others for the images.

GPT-4, OpenAI's large-scale language generation model (and others provided by Google and Meta), helped generate this text.  As soon as draft language is generated, the author reviews, edits, and revises it to their own liking and is responsible for the content.